Entrepreneur and visual artist, David Williamson, contacted me to create some special portraits for a new venture. He wanted "dark, mysterious, intense, dramatic" and sent me a few inspiration images he found on the Internet. I took a look at the images and knew right away that this was right up my alley. Dave arrived in Boston from out of town, and we did the entire shoot in his small hotel room.
Using a simple two-light set up (one bare flash with a CTO gel attached and another flash in a 46" gridded softbox), I was able to create the dramatic lighting David wanted within a very small work space.
I brought both my huge and heavy Canon 5D MII DSLR and lenses and my very small and stealthy Fujifilm X-E2, working the shoot with both cameras. (At the time of this shoot, which took place in June, I only had one Fuji lens: the 23mm 1.4. I've since acquired Fuji's 56mm 1.2.)
© 2014 Sarahmica Photography
Shot with the Fujifilm X-E2 and 23mm 1.4 lens: f/4.5, 1/180, ISO 200
© 2014 Sarahmica Photography
Shot with the Fujifilm X-E2 and 23mm 1.4 lens: f/4.5, 1/180, ISO 200
© 2014 Sarahmica Photography
Shot with the Fujifilm X-E2 and 23mm 1.4 lens: f/5.6, 1/180, ISO 200
The image below is the one image shot with my Canon 5D that was selected as a final.
© 2014 Sarahmica Photography
Shot with my Canon 5D MII and 85mm 1.8 lens: f/4, 1/100, ISO 100
The following two images are actually outtakes. I was doing some light tests and caught Dave in relaxed, candid moments where he wasn't playing the part of the "mysterious, intense character" that this project required. I love these images precisely because they are un-posed, natural, honest. I really dig the contrast between the two personas of "Mysterious, Intense Dave" and "Natural Dave".
© 2014 Sarahmica Photography
Shot with the Fujifilm X-E2 and 23mm 1.4 lens: f/4, 1/180, ISO 200
© 2014 Sarahmica Photography
Shot with the Fujifilm X-E2 and 23mm 1.4 lens: f/4, 1/180, ISO 200
I am incredibly happy using my little X-E2. It makes me darn right giddy with delight knowing that I can use this compact, light-weight camera on a professional shoot. As I mentioned in a previous post about slowly making the switch to Fuji, my plan is to eventually get one of Fuji's more top-of-the-line cameras, relegating my X-E2 as a backup camera.